Hank Palmer:
Why'd you pull me out of Boy Scouts?
Judge Joseph Palmer:
As punishment for blowing up the McCraw's mailbox with M80s.
Hank Palmer:
I was 13. *That* you remember. *That*!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
Oh, old enough to know better.
Hank Palmer:
You didn't come to my high school graduation or college. Why?
Judge Joseph Palmer:
[Overlapping]
Oh, boo-fucking-hoo. "Why?" Jail time, truancy, I don't get to reward anything! None of your shit!
Hank Palmer:
I graduated from *law school*, for Christ's sake.
Judge Joseph Palmer:
As opposed to what? Dropping out?
Hank Palmer:
Fuck you!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
Let me tell you something, okay? I put a roof over your head, money in your pocket, clothes on your back... *food* in your *mouth*! Who paid for that college education? I never showed up to kiss your ass, but your mother? She's a house wife! Why couldn't you swallow your God damned pride and just come home to her? You tell me why!
Hank Palmer:
[On the verge of tears]
You know, you'd invite people at the end of their parole back to court... You'd *recognize* those who did their time, turned their lives around, made something of themselves. Everyone in the court applauded, and you made sure they did! Tell them how *proud* you were... Proud of *fucking* strangers!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
Is that all you wanted, Henry, was a kind word? An 'atta boy? Then to use your words, you should have *come* the *fuck* home! We all waited, *quietly*, but you never came. Okay? And I was the one she'd blame, because you wouldn't come home. Me. Now, was I tough on you? Yes. How'd you turn out, Henry? Waiting tables? A bum?
Hank Palmer:
You put me in Juvenile Detention... you sent me to fucking Vanderburgh!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
[Interrupting]
No, no, no, no, no, you put yourself there.
Hank Palmer:
Did I?
Judge Joseph Palmer:
Yes.
Hank Palmer:
The prosecutor recommended community service. That was *your* call!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
No, no, no, it wouldn't have *helped* you!
Hank Palmer:
I didn't need *help*, I needed *you*!
Judge Joseph Palmer:
You were high, you rolled a car with your brother in it! He had a major league career ahead of him, a 90 mile-an-hour fast ball, and he runs a turnip shop! You crippled him, you stole his future, and you call *me* an ass hole?
Hank Palmer:
What do you want from me? I was 17 when that happened. I was *17*.
Judge Joseph Palmer:
Oooh, "I was 13, I was 17." You were headed down the wrong path! I did what I thought was right.
Hank Palmer:
[Holding back tears]
You know, I didn't just graduate from law school, I graduated first in my class... I was *first* in my class... I did *really* well, dad.
Judge Joseph Palmer:
You're welcome.
[Walks out of the room]
Hank Palmer:
[Grits his teeth and clenches his fist; he sits at the kitchen table, speaking in a barely audible voice]
Fuck... Damn this house... God damn this *fucking* house...
